Hostage Situation
by WayWardWonderer
Summary: While responding to a car accident, John Gage is held hostage by a crazy knife-wielding madman. Now Roy DeSoto has to take take care of his partner while trying to keep the situation calm. (All of Station 51 present at scene.)


It started out as any other typical day at Station 51. The Squad was as per usual, the first to arrive at the scene of the reported car accident followed closely by Engine 51. But for once, the ambulance arrived at the scene before the station house. The emergency vehicles parked a few feet from the wrecked car, each man scoping out the unfortunate scene that had been played out before their arrival.

No one knew of the carjacking, by all accounts it looked as though the driver had lost control of his car and collided with a tree. Leaves and branches were scattered all over the road and part of the sidewalk. The Squad pulled to the side of the street a few yards in front of the wrecked vehicle with the engine stopping a few yards behind it. While the engine crew assessed the damage to the car and the risk of a potential fire hazard, the paramedics were preparing to assess the actual victim, still in the wrecked car.

"Roy, it looks like he's got a concussion and some small lacerations about the face and forehead, and a few larger ones around his arms and chest." Johnny Gage had quickly gotten to the car and managed to open the passenger side door to reach and analyze the condition of the patient.

"Right, I'll get everything set up." Roy DeSoto, ever efficiently began setting up the makeshift triage center. As soon as the victim had been extricated from his vehicle they would be able to begin a proper diagnosis and call into Rampart Emergency.

With the two paramedics focused on the victim, the engine crew, specifically Chet Kelley and Marco Lopez worked to hose down the leaking gasoline to prevent an explosion.

"Hey Mike, come look at this." Captain Hank Stanley was eyeing the road from the direction that car had driven before it crashed.

"Yeah, Cap?" Mike Stoker was at his Captain's side within seconds.

"Look at this. See these skid marks? It doesn't look like he even tried to slow down." He gestured to the blackened road.

"Yeah, you're right. I wonder why."

With all eyes on the scene of the accident, no one noticed a strange man watching them work from behind several of the downed tree branches near the car.

As Johnny inspected the victims wounds more closely he noticed that some of the cuts, especially about the arms and chest seemed too straight, too perfect to be caused by flying debris from the crash.

"Need any help there, Gage?" Chet had finished with the wash down of the gasoline and decided to lend a hand to Johnny and Roy. He poked his head through the driver's side window, which 'luckily' had been broken open by the crash.

"No, I'm good. No, wait!" He pointed to the suspicious cuts on the mans arms. "Is it just me or do these cuts here look a little different from these cuts there?" He then pointed to the smaller cuts on the mans face.

"Well, yeah, now that you mention it they do seem to be a little off. I'm no medic but I've seen my fair share of injuries."

"Right, well, tell Roy-" Before Johnny could finish his sentence, he felt a giant hand grab him from behind by the shoulder and pull him out of the car.

Chet looked up over the roof of the car and saw an intimidating man holding a knife to Johnny's throat. The man's eyes were dilated and he was sweaty profusely, while the six-inch blade glinted in the bright sunlight as it pressed precariously against Johnny's skin.

"It wasn't my fault!" The crazed man's words were shaking but loud. "I just wanted his car, I just wanted his car. All I wanted was his damn car!"

At the sound of the commotion the rest of the Station 51 crew turned their attention to the lunatic with the knife, and still in his grasp was their colleague Johnny Gage at the mercy of his craziness and knife.

"Mike, get on the line to HQ and tell them we need police assistance now!" Captain Stanley kept his cool, knowing how perilous the situation had just become.

"Keep away or I'll knife your friend here!" The madman was starting to panic at the sight of the other five men, all in uniform.

"Okay, just take it easy. We won't come near you." Still keeping cool Captain Stanley was able to communicate with the dangerous man without aggravating him.

Johnny was nervous, a knife to the throat was a new experience for him, but he just as his Captain remained calm and tried to communicate with his captor. "Look I don't know what happened and I don't care. Just let us help that man and we won't bother you, all right?"

"No, no, NO… You're trying to trick me! You want me to give you the knife…"

"No one is going to take your knife and no one is trying to trick you. I'm a paramedic and so is my partner," he pointed toward Roy who was by the Squad, feeling helpless as his partner was being held hostage. "The only reason we're here is because that man in injured. All we want to do is take care of him, okay?"

"No! It's a trick."

"Listen pal," Roy chimed in. "he's telling you the truth, so am I. Just take it easy and this will all end peacefully, okay?"

The sounds of police sirens in the distance made the man tense up considerably.

"You called the cops!?"

"They're just coming to check out the situation." Captain Stanley resumed the ill communication with the lunatic. "They don't know who is involved, what happened or why. They just want to ask questions, that's all."

The man relaxed a little his shoulders falling low but his grip on Johnny's shoulder and on the knife did not falter.

"What's your name pal?" Captain tried to keep the man's attention.

"What do you care?"

"Well, we have to call you something, right?"

The man turned his gaze toward Captain Stanley who was standing with Stoker next to the engine. When he turned his head away from the wrecked car, both Chet and Marco went back to the victim and managed to pull him out of the car window swiftly without the madman even noticing.

"Bill. Just call me Bill."

"Alright Bill, let's talk this out."

'Bill', a man well over six feet tall with the build of any respectable quarterback was on the brink of losing what little self-control he had left. Feeling nervous he began to look all around, paranoid that someone was going to attack him and take the knife. He turned head and his attention back to the now empty car and saw that the driver had already been removed and loaded into the waiting ambulance. Chet smacked the back of the ambulance, urging it to leave for the hospital.

"I knew you were tying to trick me!" Bill held the knife closer to Johnny's throat; a small trickle of blood began to stain the blade.

"No, we just needed to get him to the hospital!" Captain Stanley was desperate to keep Bill as calm as possible but the approaching police sirens made his attempts moot.

Thinking fast Johnny grabbed a hold of Bill's arm hoping to wrestle the knife away while he was distracted by the arriving police. As soon as John had the knife Bill raged out against the medic, trying to get his knife back. Both Chet and Marco jumped on Bill's back, and grabbed a hold of his arms to pull him away from their colleague and friend. Roy watched the horrible scene from a distance, he didn't want to risk injuring himself or worse, a friend.

During the struggle, everyone seemed to lose sight of the knife. Bill had a death-grip on its handle and we wasn't going to let his only leverage get away from him so easily. While Chet and Marco struggled to keep Bill's arms at bay, Johnny continued to try to wrestle the knife from his hand. Using all his strength Bill managed to plunge the knife forward toward Johnny who was not anticipating the attack. Johnny felt a sharp pain in his abdomen and felt his shirt become warm and sticky with his own blood. All he could do was keep his own grip on the knife and Bill's hand hoping he wouldn't move the blade around, causing further injury.

Marco grabbed Bill's hand and started to pry open Bill's fingers until his grip was loosened on the knife. Seizing the opportunity Johnny grabbed on to the freed knife handle and stepped back from the chaotic struggle.

From the distance all Roy could see was that Johnny managed to get away from the madman and that Johnny had staggered away from the scene with the knife in his hands. He could see that Johnny was desperately clutching the knife by its handle near the front of his torso, with a look of fear plastered across his face.

With Johnny away from the attacker, both Mike and Captain Stanley assisted Chet and Marco in restraining Bill. As the four men finally pinned the attacker to the ground, the police car finally pulled up to the scene, with Officer Vince Howard at the wheel. The experienced cop pointed his firearm at the man and ordered him to "FREEZE!" Upon seeing the drawn weapon Bill immediately stopped fighting, he knew when he was beat.

Johnny had managed to take only a few steps away from the scene, still clutching at the knife and his abdomen, when he suddenly collapsed. He fell onto his knees and finally onto his stomach, the pain obvious on his face.

Seeing his partner fall, Roy ran over to the downed man as fast he could.

"Johnny? Johnny, are you alright?" Roy had his hand on Johnny's shoulder.

Through a moan and gritted teeth, Johnny managed to answer feebly. "No. Sorry Roy, I was a little careless."

On the corner of his eye Roy saw a red puddle beginning to pool from where Johnny laid. Carefully he turned his partner over onto his back only to see the knife's blade, all six inches of it, imbedded in the abdomen of his best friend. A crimson stain blossomed quickly from around the hilt. But the knife was not staying in place, without Johnny's weight pressing down on it the knife became loose and was slowly easing itself back out with every one of Johnny's quick, panting breaths.

"Oh God…" Roy didn't know what to say but he did know what to do. "Gonna' need some help over here!" His hands went instinctively to the wound and began to apply pressure.

Bill was taken away by Vince in handcuffs and been locked away in the back of the police car. As Vince drove away the rest of the Station crew were able to give their full attention back to their own man.

Roy's training taught him to never pull the knife out of a stabbing victim, but the knife wasn't going to stay in place any longer. The knife had already become so loose from Johnny's fall and heavy breathing that it was superfluous to let it remain imbedded in the wound. With a firm grip Roy pulled the knife out at a steady, clam pace as straight and fluid as possible. Johnny didn't even react to the knife, a poor sign in ?Roy's mind.

Without the obstruction blocking his view of the wound, Roy peeled back the fabric of Johnny's blue inform shirt to examine the wound. Without the knife to act as a dam in the wound, the amount of blood flow was dangerous. Roy pressed his hands back down onto the wound to stop the bleeding, his hands becoming as red as his Johnny's now stained white t-shirt.

"Just hang in there pal, I'll get you patched up and to the hospital, okay?"

Johnny did his best to force a smile as he weakly nodded in head.

"Roy, what the hell happened?" Captain Stanley was standing over the two men, looking down over Roy's shoulder at Johnny.

"The knife Cap, it got him."

"Chet, Marco bring over the equipment now! Gage is down! Mike, call it in!"

Each man knew his role and each man knew how to work efficiently, even when there was a time limit.

"Here you go Roy." Chet handed Roy the bio-phone and drug box. "What can I do?"

"Get his blood pressure for me." Roy didn't dare to move his hands just yet.

Chet didn't answer; he just went right to work. He opened the drug box and attached the BP cuff to Johnny's arm and began to test his pressure.

Slowly removing only one hand from the wound, Roy had picked up the bio-phone and set up the line for Rampart.

_-at Rampart-_

"_Rampart this is Squad 51, how do you read_?"

"This is Rampart. Go ahead 51." There was no mistaking head nurse Dixie McCall's voice on the other end of the line.

"_Rampart, we have the victim of a stabbing in the lower right quadrant of the abdomen. Be advised that the victim is paramedic John Gage_."

Dixie's hand shook a little as she was writing down the information. She knew only too well how unlucky Johnny seemed to be with on-the-job accidents but that didn't make it any easier anytime her friend became the reluctant patient.

"10-4, 51." She finally answered. After a brief pause she was able to recollect herself and resume full 'nurse mode', she asked one of the passing nurse students to find Dr. Brackett for her. "51, do you have any vitals?"

"_Still working on it Rampart. Stand by_."

"Standing by 51."

Dixie could only imagine what the scene looked like and Dr. Brackett knew something terrible had happened. He could see the fear and concern in Dixie's eyes as he approached the desk.

"What have you got, Dix?"

"51 is dealing with a stabbing, it's Johnny."

"Gage?"

"Uh-huh." She handed him the small notepad and pencil to take down the vital signs.

"How did that happen?"

"I don't know, Kel."

Just then the ambulance with the car crash victim pulled into the drive. Two orderlies wheeled in the victim and Dr. Brackett went to check on him.

"What happened? Why is this man not being attended to?"

The ambulance driver had followed the orderlies into the E.R. "Doc, he was originally the call that 51 responded to. But some knife wielding maniac showed up and started threatening everyone and took John Gage as a hostage."

Dixie was overhearing the explanation from the bay station, her eyes widened with fear.

"No one could get near this guy and help him. But when that psycho was distracted two of the fireman grabbed this guy and got him into the ambulance and we brought him here as fast as possible. There was no time to do anything else."

Dr. Brackett just sighed. He was still annoyed at the man being brought in without being treated and without a supervising medic but he understood how unusual and risky the situation had become.

Dixie spoke up. "Take him to exam room one, I'll call Dr. Early."

_-at the scene-_

"Cap, can I get a hand here?" Roy motioned for Captain Stanley to apply the pressure while he began his examination of his best friend.

"You hanging in there Johnny?"

"Yeah. I'm still here."

Johnny was beginning to sweat, his face was pale and eyes had closed.

Roy cut a hole in the remaining t-shirt to expose the wound fully. It wasn't as bad as Roy had imagined it would be, but it was still severe. "Okay Cap, place your hands right here."

"Got it."

After attaching the leads from the portable heart monitor / defibrillator, Roy took the stethoscope from the drug box and listened quickly to Johnny's chest. He started at his heart and took his pulse, then he listened to both of Johnny's lungs. He placed his hand gently on Johnny's chest to count his respirations.

"Chet, do you have the BP?"

"Yeah Roy, it's 90 / 60."

Chet wasn't a medic but he knew from the look in Roy's eyes that Johnny's BP was too low.

Roy had written down the vitals quickly before using the penlight to check Johnny's pupils.

"Let me see your eyes Johnny."

Johnny complied silently. Roy flicked the light up and down in one and then the other.

"Exam complete Roy called back into Rampart.

_-at Rampart-_

"_Rampart this, 51_."

"Go ahead 51." Dr. Brackett had taken over the call in place of Dixie.

"_Vitals on the victim are: Pulse 104, BP 90 / 60, respirations are 20, rapid and shallow; pupils are normal and reactive. The victim is still conscious and coherent."_

"10-4, 51." Dr. Brackett looked over his shoulder at Dixie. "51 start an I.V. with ringer's lactate, wide-open. Also put on 2 liters of oxygen, apply as much pressure to the wound as possible and transport immediately."

"_10-4 Rampart_."

"Dix, he's stable, he's awake and he has arguably the best paramedic in L.A. County taking care of him."

"I know Kel."

"But you still feel like you should do something." Dr. Bracket and Dixie have known each other for years, they could read each other like a book.

"Yeah."

"Don't we all."

_-at the scene-_

A second ambulance arrived at the scene. Working together, Roy and the Captain lifted Johnny up and onto the gurney. Johnny was beginning to fade out as the gurney was lifted into the back of the ambulance. Roy climbed in and sat beside his partner, while Captain Stanley accompanied his two medics and continued to hold the pressure. Two quick thumps on the closed doors and the ambulance was racing off to the hospital.

"Hey, just hold on a little longer, okay?" Roy put his hand on Johnny's chest to reassure his friend and double-check his breathing.

Johnny struggled to open his eyes and look at Roy.

"Hey, Roy…" Johnny's face was paling before Roy's eyes.

"Yeah Johnny?"

"I don't feel- I don't feel right…"

Johnny's eyes suddenly shut and his head lolled lifelessly to the side as he took in a sharp breath and slowly released it.

"Johnny? Johnny?" Roy was gently shaking his friend's shoulders trying to wake him up when the high-pitched screaming of the heart monitor told him that Johnny's heartbeat had become erratic.

"Roy?" Captain Stanley's voice carried his worry heavily.

"He's in v-fib." He turned his attention to the driver. "Hey, pull over! Cap contact Rampart again. Starting *C.P.R.!"

As the vehicle pulled to the side of the road, Roy began chest compressions trying to get Johnny's heart beating normally again, praying that he didn't cause any further harm to his injured friend in the process. Captain Stanley made contact with the hospital.

"Rampart this 51."

"_Go ahead 51_." Again Dr. Brackett's voice filled the line.

"Victim has gone into v-fib. Chest compressions have been started." Captain Stanley watched as Roy pressed his hands into Johnny's chest over and over. "Sending you a strip now." Captain Stanley flipped the switch and Johnny's current heart rate was being transmitted over to Rampart for diagnosis.

At least 10 agonizing seconds of silence filled the ambulance as the two men waited for a response from Dr. Brackett at Rampart.

"_51 defibrillate at 400 watt seconds_, _now_!"

"10-4."

Acting as Roy's second pair of hands, Captain Stanley charged up the defibrillator to the ordered charge and lifted the paddles to hand them to Roy as soon as the charge was reached. A loud whine signaled the charge and Captain Stanley stood back, reluctantly taking his hand from Johnny's wound and pulled the oxygen mask away from his injured friend's face.

Placing the paddles on the apex of the sternum, one to the left of the heart and the second just below, Roy set to shock his partner. "Clear…" The charge surged through the downed paramedic's body, forcing his back to arch and lifting him slightly upward off the gurney.

Both men looked at the heart monitor. "No conversion." Roy's voice was a little shaky. "Charging again."

The whine of the defibrillator resonated loudly in the back of the ambulance as the charge reached its level. "Clear…" Once more a jolt of electricity surged through Johnny's body and once more his body responded physically by lifting up off the gurney.

Roy and Captain Stanley looked over at the monitor as the stable rhythmic beeping returned. Johnny's heart had begun beating normally again.

"He's back." Roy breathed a sign of relief as he spoke, replacing the oxygen mask. "Let's get going!"

The driver pulled back onto the road and resumed the ride to Rampart.

Roy grabbed the receiver of the bio-phone and contacted Rampart. "Successful conversion. E.T.A., less than 1 minute."

"_10-4, 51. We'll be waiting_."

Captain Stanley carefully placed his hand back on Johnny's wound and pressed hard enough to keep pressure but not so hard as to cause pain. Roy hung up the bio-phone and pulled out the stethoscope, he listened again to Johnny's chest.

"His lungs are clear and his heartbeat is strong."

"Roy?" Captain Stanley didn't look at the senior paramedic, he just stared at the younger man's pale face.

"He's going to make it Cap, he has to."

Roy didn't smile, he shrugged his shoulders in an exhausted manner.

The ambulance suddenly slowed, then the direction changed. They had arrived at Rampart and the ambulance was backing up toward the doors.

The doors flew open and two orderlies entered the ambulance and pulled the gurney onto the ground and began wheeling it into Rampart, with Roy and Captain Stanley walking alongside. Dixie directed the gurney by pointed toward exam room 4.

As Johnny was wheeled inside, Dr. Brackett was already waiting. Roy and Captain Stanley followed Johnny into the room but stood back, pressed against the wall, knowing that he was now in the best hands. The orderlies lifted Johnny carefully from the gurney, onto the exam table. Dixie replaced the oxygen from the small tank on the gurney to the larger one already set up in the room, she did the same with the heart monitors. With the orderlies gone, it was just Dr. Brackett, Dixie, Captain Stanley, Roy and Johnny the patient.

Dr. Brackett lifted Johnny's eyelids and checked his pupils with his penlight.

"Johnny? Can you hear me."

Johnny tried to move his head but he was too weak and tired. Dr. Brackett picked up Johnny's hand to take his radial pulse, before he laid his hand back down, he asked again for Johnny to respond.

"Johnny, if you can hear me, move your index finger for me."

Roy and Captain Stanley watched quietly from the back of the room as they saw Johnny's finger start to move. He was awake, he was coherent and best of all, alive!

"Dix, let's get x-ray down here. I want to make sure the knife didn't knick any bones."

"Doc?" Roy finally spoke up. "Is he going to be all right?"

Dr. Brackett looked at Roy, a little surprised he was in the room because he was so quiet but then again, he knew better that Roy wouldn't be far away if Johnny was injured.

"Let's go outside, and let Johnny rest for a moment."

Outside the exam room, the four patrons were greeted by the rest of Station 51, who had followed the ambulance in the Engine and brought in the Squad.

"Doc?" Roy asked again.

"Don't look so worried ,would ya'?" Dr. Brackett managed a sincere smile that instantly eased everyone awaiting his answer. Well, everyone except Roy.

"Come on guys, let's go get some coffee." Dixie had motioned for the Station to follow her so Roy and Dr. Brackett could talk alone.

"Roy?" Dr. Brackett put hand to the concerned medic's shoulder. "He's strong. He's alert. And he had _you_ to take care of him."

"Then… Then why did his heart stop?" Roy didn't look Dr. Brackett in the eyes, he couldn't.

"Well, from what you reported as his vitals, I'd say it was caused by shock complicated by blood loss." He could see his honesty had only shaken Roy further. "What's important is you brought him back and kept him stable. You know Johnny better than anyone in this hospital, do you really think he'd just give up like that?"

Roy laughed a little. There was no denying that Johnny was by far the most stubborn person that he had ever met. Luckily that made him a great firefighter, a dedicated paramedic and a loyal friend.

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

"Kel?" Dr. Joe Early had finished with the patient in room 1 and took the liberty of retrieving Johnny's x-rays from the technicians. "His x-ray's are back."

"Care to join us, Roy?"

"Sure."

The three attending medic's returned to room 4 where Johnny still lay. He wasn't unconscious, merely resting. He stirred at the sound of the door opening and people walking in. The distinct sound of the x-ray templates being lodged against the viewing lights was enough to tell Johnny exactly what was going on with him needing to ask.

"No sign of any breaks, not even a fracture."

Roy sighed in relief. He wasn't concerned about the knife nicking Johnny's ribs so much as he was worried his own C.P.R. might have caused some damage*.

"What about internally Kel?" Dr. Early's question was fair even though it was disheartening.

Dr. Brackett took his stethoscope from around his neck and used it to listen to Johnny's chest. When he finished he took his blood pressure once more before turning his attention back to Dr. Early and Roy.

"His blood pressure is stable, he's breathing on his own, no sign of congestion in either lung. I'd say he's incredibly lucky, the knife must have struck muscle only and missed his organs. In fact, I think his not having a spleen actually saved him. A few sutures to close the wound, a blood transfusion to replace what he's lost, some antibiotics and at least 24hrs of observation. I think he'll be out of here within 3 days. That's if he decided to actually coöperate with us for once."

Roy smiled once more. Johnny was already on the road to recovery. He rubbed the back of his neck with his hand, feeling the tension leaving.

"I'm going to go tell the guys." Roy motioned for the door behind him with his thumb over his shoulder before swiftly stepping outside.

"You know Kel, I think if Roy and Johnny ever got separated from each other, Squad 51 would never be the same."

"You know Joe, I think you're right."

"Tell me about it…" Johnny finally found the strength to speak. He smiled to himself from beneath the oxygen mask before quietly falling asleep once again, knowing that when he woke up he's be patched up and ready to get back to the Station within a few days.

-The End

**Author's Note: *damage to a person's ribs from the act of C.P.R. is not uncommon. A person with weak bones either from advanced age, illness or poor diet are frequently the unlucky victims of fractured ribs due to the repeated compressions against their chests. Not intentional, but it does happen!**

**Also, people who review this story and point out the flaws seem concerned that I am offended or simply cannot take a critique. I assure you that I can and am in no way offended. I actually welcome this type of feedback, how else can I improve myself without first acknowledging the flaws? And when more than one person points out a single passage in the story that needs to be re-worked, then odds are it does need to be re-worked and I should re-work it and not take it personally. Not that I ever was.**

**And... For the 'guest' reviewer who tried to tell me that 'fractures' and 'breaks' are the same thing. They're not.**

**Fracture: an imperfection caused by an injury that causes pain and mild instability in the bone afflicted.**

**Break: an injury that causes the bone to separated into different pieces causing complete instability.**


End file.
